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Senate Honors Onetime Bomb Suspect Jewell

March 16, 1997|By From Tribune News Services.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Richard Jewell, the former security guard and onetime suspect in last summer's Centennial Olympic Park bombing, was honored Friday for spotting the bomb and helping clear the park before the explosion.

A resolution adopted by the state Senate honored both Jewell and Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Tom Davis.

Davis called the bomb squad and helped evacuate the park July 27 after Jewell told him he saw a suspicious backpack.

A woman was killed and 111 people were injured by the blast.

Jewell, initially hailed as a hero, was named as a suspect in news accounts three days later. Three months later, the FBI exonerated him.

There have been no arrests in the bombing, which is still under investigation.

A similar resolution praising Jewell was passed by the state House in January.